News
Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Perspective
Universities fight unjust travel ban
A Times Editorial
Published January 6, 2008
Named as a defendant in a lawsuit over academic freedom, the Florida university Board of Governors has now drawn a careful line of demarcation. It will defend the Legislature's right to dictate where professors travel on the taxpayers' dime, but it won't put up with the disingenuous political crusade to stop even privately financed travel to places such as Cuba.
The distinction, drawn last month in a legal response to the lawsuit filed in 2006 by the Florida ACLU, is a generous interpretation of the Legislature's authority to meddle in matters of research. But it does establish a standard to which the federal court, if not lawmakers themselves, should strictly adhere. Professors who have federal authorization, private funds and legitimate research interests to travel to countries designated as terrorist states should never be subject to a political litmus test.
"Where nonstate funds are concerned," the university board's attorney wrote, "the (Legislature's) prohibition runs afoul of the academic freedom accorded to universities under the First Amendment to be free from governmental intrusion in the performance of core educational functions."
The ban became law in 2006 after what could be charitably described as a misleading description of its impact on university research. The House sponsor, David Rivera, R-Miami, was asked during floor debate whether the bill would prevent professors from traveling at the expense of private foundations. His answer: "Nothing in this bill will prevent a professor ... from doing that and funding the trip with somebody else's money, but not Florida's taxpayer money."
In fact, the law bans use of state and "nonstate" funds, and it has succeeded in shutting down vital links between university researchers and the lands they study. The Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University has raised nearly $1-million from such prestigious foundations as Ford and Rockefeller and MacArthur, but can't spend a dime toward travel to Cuba. Houman Sadri, a University of Central Florida professor who has written extensively about Middle Eastern issues, can no longer travel to Iran.
The travel ban is a political stunt and puts Florida researchers at an academic disadvantage. Maybe state lawmakers are prepared to spend money defending the indefensible, but the Board of Governors was right to draw a line. The board was created by a 2002 constitutional amendment intended to insulate universities from politicians, and in this fight voters are on its side.
[Last modified January 5, 2008, 20:55:35]
Share your thoughts on this story
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Letter to the editor